Primary education information for parents Important information about preferences

Published: 2 September 2024

Most school places are allocated on the basis of the home address of each child.

Home address

This must be the child’s permanent home address where he/she lives with a person of parental responsibility as the main carer as defined by the Children Act 1989. Applicants must not give the address of a business, relative, childminder, friend, a temporary address or an address to which they hope to move.

The home address must not be where parents have taken out a short term let on a property solely to use its address on the application form without any intention of taking up permanent residence there. The Council will require proof of residence which may include proof of sale of a previous property. Arrangements where parents leave and collect children from another relative or carer on a daily basis will be regarded as childcare arrangements, and the child will not be deemed to be “ordinarily resident” with that person.

Applications from separated parents

Only one application can be processed for each child; therefore it is important that both parties in shared custody arrangements are in agreement over the preferred school(s) named. The parent with whom the child is majority resident should submit the application giving their address as the child’s home address– this is the parent with which the child resides most days in a week. Failure to provide a definitive application could jeopardise your child’s priority for a school place.

In a situation where a child spends exactly equal time with both parents, the child’s main permanent residence should be submitted as their home address. If agreement cannot be reached, or if neither parent has been granted a Specific Issues Order in this respect, then the council will accept the application from the parent with whom the child is “ordinarily resident”. This is the address where the child lives for the majority of the school week (Monday to Friday) and is usually where the parent/carer receives child benefit for the child (where eligible). Proof of address and residence arrangements will be required with the application.

Changes of address

Parents and carers must inform the council immediately of a change of address, even if details of a future change of residency were included on the application form. The council will require supporting evidence to show that the place of residency has changed; e.g. a letter from the solicitor confirming the completion date; a signed rental agreement showing the start of the tenancy and its duration. In addition, further information may be requested – for example, copies of council tax and utility bills or any other information considered relevant to the application, including evidence of disposal of previous property. Information and supporting evidence must be received by 28 January 2024. Proof of residency received after 28 January 2024 will not be used to assign a higher criterion for admission but will be used to send the decision letter on the published offer date. We may remove a place where it has been identified that a change of address has taken place before 28 January 2024 and has not been declared.

Wirral council regularly check addresses and any deliberate misrepresentation will result in a place being withdrawn. The council acts on behalf of all Wirral admission authorities and reserves the right to request independent confirmation of the child’s place of residence, as felt appropriate.

The Mainstream Admissions team may have to share the information provided with other departments of the council in order to verify the authenticity of pupil’s addresses. This may include data held by Council Tax and/or Housing Benefit teams. The council’s Fraud and Investigations Team may be asked to review the information that has been provided. This may include interviewing and taking a signed statement from the applicant.

The Authority has the right to withdraw any place offered on the basis of a fraudulent or intentionally misleading application.

Your personal data

Wirral Council processes personal admissions data in accordance with the Data Protection Act 2018 and the Schools Admissions Code 2021. The information you provide on your preference form will be used by Wirral Local Authority and Governing bodies of primary/secondary schools as Admission Authorities. They will apply the information to their published admission policies in order to allocate school places for children. Where necessary this information will be shared with various internal Council teams, and with external agencies, including other Local Authorities and Schools, the Department for Education, Office of the Schools Adjudicator, the Education Skills Funding Agency, the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman and the NHS Community Trust where required in relation to other legal, statutory or other regulatory obligations or requirements. In order to verify the authenticity of pupils’ addresses or income status this information may be shared with Council Tax and Housing Benefit teams. Information about your child may also be shared with Members of Parliament or Local Councillors, if you ask them to act on your behalf.

For further information please read the School Admissions Privacy Notice. If you have any questions or concerns about how your data is secured the Council’s Data Protection Officer can be contacted by email at DPO@wirral.gov.uk or by writing to: Data Protection Officer, Wirral Council, PO Box 290, Brighton Street, Wallasey, CH27 9FQ.